Russell was born in Aurora (DCD), third of five children born from Iakob Gamkrelidze (1901-1994) and Natia Jaqeli (1903-1997), both coming from Georgian families that escaped the Russian Civil War and settled in Rio Blanco in 1919. He, along with his parents and siblings, moved to Evans, Yuma, in 1936. In 1967 he was elected Chairman of the Yuman branch of the Home Guard Party.